Another example of(or
exaggeration in the service of truth) is as follows: "What are we, that we should think to
stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown
down?" The earth does not actually tremble, as though it were a living thing, but Edwards
uses hyperbole to express God's terrible and great power over all creation, not the least of
which is us.
When Edwards describes those who do not believe, he says that
they are, essentially, already condemned to Hell:
The
devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like
greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept
back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment
fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to
receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and
lost.The hyperbole here is in the image of hungry
devils following nonbelievers around, simply waiting for the word from God that these
nonbelievers are fair game. He compares them to lions stalking their prey. In the moment that
God lifts his protection from these individuals, the devils will pounce, dragging them into the
open mouth of hell in an instant. This hyperbole draws attention to the swiftness with which
these individuals would be damned and how quickly and surely they will be conveyed to Hell
whenever God permits it.
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